Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Pride and Principal: A Silicon Valley Mystery by Marc Jedel. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Pride and Principal: A Silicon Valley Mystery
by Marc Jedel
Pride and Principal: A Silicon Valley Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – California
BGM Press (April 23, 2024)
Number of Pages: 230
The school secretary has a sharp tongue but is she a killer? Can Marty do the math or will he get schooled by a criminal mastermind?
Marty Golden is frazzled. Struggling to juggle nieces, a rambunctious dog, a demanding job, and a serious relationship, the software engineer is never quite sure whether he’s coming or going. But when his nemesis begs for help after she’s accused of offing the school principal, the amateur sleuth agrees to hunt down the real culprit.
Confounded to discover the cantankerous woman stood to take the dead man’s position, he strives to find anyone who could benefit from discrediting the grump. And when his brilliant deductions and personal life implode, not even Marty’s groan-worthy dad-jokes can save him from an explosive threat.
Does this bumbling amateur sleuth have what it takes to capture the real killer?
Pride and Principal is the rollicking sixth book in the Silicon Valley cozy mystery series. If you like heroes in over their head, family hijinks, and plenty of wit and charm, then you’ll love Marc Jedel’s wild ride.
Try Pride and Principal to put two and two together today!
My review of Pride and Principal
If you’re a fan of humorous cozy mystery books, you can count on Marc Jedel to entertain you! Pride and Principal is the latest book in his hilarious Silicon Valley Mystery series starring Marty Golden. You don’t need to read the series in order, but these books are so funny that I think you should read them all!
Marty’s sister has once again left him in charge of his two nieces while she’s out of town…why she thinks he’s a suitable option to watch her kids is beyond me! Kidding! (Sort of kidding!) I mean Marty does have two kids in college, and they turned out fine. Anyway, Uncle Marty is in charge, and his duties include school drop-offs which most likely means he’ll run into Mrs. Quarles, the school secretary. (Marty has had dealings with her before, and they haven’t gone well.) Well, things are about to get weird… When Marty arrives to drop off his nieces, no one is around. Did he miss drop-off? He figures he’d better go find out what’s going on, and that means talking to Mrs. Quarles. Imagine his surprise when he walks into the office and finds her in quite a state. The principal is dead! Is it murder? Did he die of natural causes? It doesn’t matter to Marty. He’s on the case either way! And from there, this mystery turns into another mad-cap Marty adventure.
Marty cracks me up. He’s definitely one of the funniest amateur sleuths around. Even his job is amusing. He works for a company that makes self-driving cars, and his work mates usually end up helping him with his detective work. Under the radar, of course. I won’t tell you about them (although one is on vacation in this book) because you’ll want to experience the craziness for yourself. (Again, I think you should read ALL of this series to really appreciate their dynamics.) Marty’s nieces are entertaining too! You’ve got to read about them to grasp just how entertaining they are. Jedel’s humor contains a lot of wit, so you’ve got to expect some dry humor and “dad” jokes to truly recognize just how funny he is.
Since Marty’s staying with the girls at his sister’s house, Mrs. Kim (another awesome character) isn’t in this one much (another reason to read the series). However, I totally understand why Jedel couldn’t put all of the regulars in since several new characters are introduced just for this book. They are…the suspects, er, parents. Jedel makes it pretty easy to keep track of these characters since Marty gives them all nicknames.
Marty’s round-about way of solving the case makes for much entertainment. I don’t want to give away his “friendship” with the detective because it’s another thing you have to encounter on your own to truly appreciate it.
Needless to say, I highly recommend Pride and Principal for its wit, well-written characters, madcap mystery, and general hilarity! It’s a page-turning cozy mystery that you’ll find hard to put down! Grab the book and experience Marty for yourself!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Character Guest Post: Mrs. Quarles
My books in the Silicon Valley Mystery series are humorous murder mysteries. Silicon Valley is not your typical, cozy mystery locale and Marty Golden, the hero, doesn’t fit the normal profile of a mystery protagonist. Despite finding himself thrust into challenging situations, Marty isn’t exactly hero material. He brings a combination of wit, irreverent humor and sarcasm mixed in with nerdy insecurities, absent-mindedness, and fumbling but effective amateur sleuthing skills. With an active inner voice and not a lot of advanced planning, he throws himself into solving problems.
To get a better understanding of Marty’s world, here’s a recent interview I did with Mrs. Quarles, school secretary for Marty’s nieces’ school.
Marc [author]: Thank you for your time today, Mrs. Quarles—
Mrs. Quarles: I only have five minutes for you today so enough fooling around, young man. Let’s get to it.
Marc [author]: Okay, okay. Do you mind if I call you Irene?
Mrs. Quarles: Yes I do. Call me Mrs. Quarles. Only four and half minutes left so hurry it up!
Marc [author]: Sorry. To start off with the obvious question, how have you been holding up with the death of your school principal, Chuck?
Mrs. Quarles: That’s Mr. Blakely to you. [Deep sigh]. His death was a tragedy. We miss him every day. Me, perhaps most of all, since I’m now working as the acting principal and we haven’t backfilled my previous position as school secretary, so I’m doing both jobs. It’s exhausting, let me tell you.
Marc [author]: Wow, congrats on your promotion. Although, I’d think that hiring a replacement secretary wouldn’t be so difficult—
Mrs. Quarles: Why? Because you think anyone can do the job? Well, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong, Mr. Know-Nothing-At-All. A good school secretary is essential to the proper operations of a school. They keep the main office running efficiently and that is key for the entire school to function smoothly. It’s an absolutely essential position and there aren’t many who can live up to my demanding standards.
Marc [author]: Yes, of course.
Mrs. Quarles: Now you sound like you’re being rude. Are you trying to be difficult?
Marc [author] [swallows]: No, ma’am.
Mrs. Quarles: [gives me a hard look before continuing] Well, okay then. You should know we teach our children to be polite to everyone. That’s in our RULES for the school. Everyone has to follow them. Even visitors. Oh my goodness, look at the time. It’s almost time for school to end and I’ve got to get out to the front entrance to manage the traffic. Walk with me.
Marc [author]: Sure. Thanks for talking to me today. How are you feeling about all the attention from my latest novel?
Mrs. Quarles: Look at those cars. Some parents simply don’t understand how to queue up in line. Hey! [yelling at a woman who was standing outside her car] Back into your car. We don’t want any delays when the students are dismissed. [Turning back to me with a sigh]. Some people just don’t understand the RULES.
Marc [author]: Terrible, just terrible. Any thoughts about my novel?
Mrs. Quarles: What novel? I really don’t have time to read these days. Keeping this school running in tiptop shape takes all of my attention. I prefer nonfiction anyway. One of my recent favorites is Best Practices in School Administration. Have you read that? I’m not a big fan of fiction. Too much made-up flim-flam. Your book isn’t full of flim-flam, is it?
Marc [author]: Nope. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before. But Pride and Principal, my latest novel, is a fun, humorous murder mystery.
Mrs. Quarles: Murder is not funny. Which principal do you mean? You didn’t write about Principal Blakely, did you?
Marc [author]: [Clears throat]. Well thank you for your time—
Mrs. Quarles: Hey, come back here. I still have some questions for you.
Marc [author]: My novel, Pride and Principal, is on sale during this tour. It’s available at: https://mybook.to/PrideandPrincipal. You can find all my cozy mysteries at: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jedel/e/B07H7MVKJL. They’re available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback editions, plus my novels are all free for Kindle Unlimited members.
I love hearing from readers. Follow or contact me at:
Website: www.marcjedel.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/MarcJedel.Author
BookBub: http://www.bookbub.com/profile/marc-jedel
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jedel/e/B07H7MVKJL Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18403497.Marc_Jedel
About Marc Jedel
Marc Jedel writes humorous murder mysteries. He credits his years of marketing leadership positions in Silicon Valley for honing his writing skills and sense of humor. While his high-tech marketing roles involved crafting plenty of fiction, these were just called emails, ads, and marketing collateral.
For most of Marc’s life, he’s been inventing stories. It’s a skill that’s served him well as both an author and marketer. The publication of Marc’s first novel, Uncle and Ants, gave him permission to claim “author” as his job. This leads to much more interesting conversations with people than answering, “marketing.”
Like his character, Marty from the Silicon Valley Mystery series, Marc now lives in Silicon Valley, works in high-tech, and enjoys bad puns. Like his characters Jonas and Elizabeth from the Ozarks Lake Mystery series, he grew up in the South and spent plenty of time in and around Arkansas. Like his character, Andy, from the Redwoods Country Mystery series, Marc continues to grow older and would prefer not to run a bed-and-breakfast inn when he retires. Like all his protagonists, Marc too has a dog, although his is neurotic, sweet, and small, with little appreciation for Marc’s humor.
Visit his website, marcjedel.com, for free chapters of novels, special offers, and more.
Author Links
- Website and mailing list: www.marcjedel.com
- Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jedel/e/B07H7MVKJL
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MarcJedel.Author
- BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/marc-jedel?follow=true
- Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/18403497.Marc_Jedel
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mjedel/
Purchase Links – Amazon
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Pride and Principal TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 6 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 7 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
May 8 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 9 – Reading Is My SuperPower – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 10 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 12 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 12 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
May 13 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
May 14 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 15 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 17 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
May 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 19 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
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Thanks so much for the wonderful review of Pride and Principal! I’m very glad you were entertained by the continuing challenges Marty faces in acting as an amateur sleuth. The novel is on sale during this blog tour at https://mybook.to/PrideandPrincipal. For those who haven’t tried the whole series, see: getbook.at/SiliconValley. They’re available in e-book, audiobook, and paperback versions, as well as free for Kindle Unlimited members. Get more free content by joining my mailing list at http://www.marcjedel.com.
I definitely think they’ll love it!